


Elegy

by orphan_account



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Spiritual, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 04:10:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13450254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A brief memorial service for Tom, seen from Aram's point-of-view.





	Elegy

It itched. 

After sitting in the chapel for what seemed like hours, it was all Aram could think about. The wool of his grandfather's kippah was scratchy, especially considering the sweat that plastered his hair to his skull. He stared numbly at the floor, struggling to stifle an impending yawn. It would be terribly rude to yawn at a funeral.

Samar shifted in the seat beside him. She tapped him on the shoulder, and when he turned his head she leaned over to kiss him. Aram inhaled excitedly as their lips met. Samar got out of her seat and knelt on the floor in front of him. She held his face in her hands and kissed him until he moaned, and tears blurred his vision.

They were interrupted by the sound of a clearing throat. Samar reluctantly broke the kiss and stood. She ran her fingers through his hair and adjusted the pins holding the kippah in place, then sat back down. Curious, Aram stood and turned to see who had joined them.

Red stood at the chapel's entrance, with Scottie beside him. Her eyes were glazed, the skin of her face blotchy and swollen. It seemed that Red's arm around her waist was the only thing keeping her from collapsing. One hand was balled in a fist by her side. With the other she clung to Red's arm, her fingers twiddling the fringes of the white and blue tallit Red wore over his suit.

Like Aram, Red wore a kippah - white and blue where his was solid black. Like Samar, Scottie wore a simple black dress and heels. Any other time, Aram might have laughed. Perhaps some higher power had planted the ideas in their minds so they would coordinate their attire. As it was, with everyone present simultaneously weighed down with stress and sorrow, he found that he couldn't even speak. All he could manage was a sigh as Red and Scottie slowly strode past.

The chapel was small, with half a dozen small pews facing the altar in two rows of three. The mural on the wall behind the altar was a vibrant painting of a large tree in the middle of a clearing. A glowing green orb emanated from a hole in the tree's center, and beneath the ground bright blue streams of lightning radiated out from the roots.

Aram was not familiar with the image, but given the chapel's interfaith atmosphere, he appreciated it. As Red helped Scottie into the front pew, he leaned down to whisper something in her ear. Scottie nodded lethargically, and Red leaned down to kiss her forehead. Samar held Aram's hand as Red perused the bookshelf on the right side wall. He made his choice and slowly walked behind the altar.

He opened the book to a page toward the back. Red cleared his throat and reverently began to read:

_"Father of all, we pray to you for Christopher, and for all those whom we love but see no longer. Grant to them eternal rest. Let light perpetual shine upon them. May his soul and the souls of the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen."_

Without skipping a beat, Red took a deep breath and began to chant a dirge in Hebrew. Aram could not understand the words, but the mournful cadence as Red sang was powerful. Samar clung to his side, her hold so tight that Aram involuntarily grunted. She eased her grip, and as the haunting prayer came to a close, she leaned her head against his shoulder. He felt her tears on his neck.

When the chant had ended, Scottie began to sob, a series of stark, eerie wails that shook him to the core.  


* * *

"What was that he was singing? I recognized the word for 'God,' but that's about it," Aram said as he loosened his tie and started to unbutton his suit.

It had been an hour since the memorial ended. After the ceremony, they were all exhausted. Red had returned to Lizzie's bedside, and Scottie had initiated the process of having Tom's body interred in her family's mausoleum in Rock Creek Cemetery.

There had been no living will, no plans in place for burial or inheritance when Tom died. At 33, he had been several years younger than Aram, with his whole life ahead of him. Now, God only knew where he was - or even _if_ he was, at all. Raised in a household with a Muslim father and a Jewish mother, Aram had regularly attended services at his mother's synagogue with her and his maternal grandfather.

His maternal grandmother had been an atheist, and his father was indifferent. Being disowned by his own parents for marrying a _kuffar_ had embittered him against religion, but Abeel Mojtabai had no objections to his son being raised Jewish. So Aram had gone to the synagogue. He had observed Shabbat and all the Holy Days. When he was 10, he began to attend a Torah school. When he was 13, he had a bar mitzvah.

He had remained observant and devout all through high school and university. It was only when he graduated and started working that he gradually dropped his religious obligations, and when _Savta_ died, he stopped attending synagogue. If she minded, his mother never let on. She respected his privacy and ability to decide things for himself.

So, what had he decided? Aram could not say for sure one way or another.

His ruminations stopped when he felt Samar embrace him from behind. Sometime during his reverie, she had undressed. She kissed the back of his neck, sucking at the skin until Aram moaned. Samar walked around to face him and began to remove his clothing.

_"Oh God, full of compassion, who dwells on high, grant true rest upon the wings of the Divine Presence. . ."_

Fully unbuttoned, the dress shirt was carefully removed. Samar folded the shirt and placed it on the floor, beside Aram's overcoat. She then unclasped his belt and pulled it through the loops.

_"...in the exalted spheres of the holy and pure, who shine as the resplendence of the firmament, to the soul of **Christopher,** son of **Howard**..."_

As Red had done in the memorial, Samar used Tom's birth name. At the mention of the name, she paused to unzip Aram's slacks. She kissed his stomach and took a deep breath as she continued.

_"...may he rest in peace in the Garden of Eden. Merciful God, protect him beneath the shelter of your wings, and bind his soul with the bond of life..."_

Aram and Samar stood bare before each other. For a moment they simply looked at each other, until Samar took charge. She pressed her palm against his chest and gently pushed him back until he lay down on the bed. She straddled him and clasped his shoulders. She finished the prayer as he rose to enter her.

_"...The Lord is his inheritance; may he rest in peace, and let us say: Amen."_

**Author's Note:**

> The reading Red gives is a prayer for the departed found on page 498 of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. I took the liberty of assuming Tom's mother had a Christian background - in this case, Episcopalian.
> 
> The elements of Judaism were incorporated based on Aram and Samar's explicit affiliation, as well as a presumption that Red is also Jewish (based on his presence in a synagogue in episode 1.12).
> 
> _El Maleh Rachamim_ is a Jewish prayer for the souls of the departed. It is not as well-known as the Kaddish, which I had first considered using. I chose to use it largely due to its explicit reference to the deceased. The English translation I used is largely based on the translation by Zalman Goldstein I found at Chabad dot org after doing a Google search - much of which is quoted word-for-word - but a few lines are paraphrased or restated.
> 
> I am not overly familiar with the customs and norms of Judaism, so I apologize for any inaccuracies.  
> Tom was my favorite character in the show, and in light of his departure, I wanted to write a sort of farewell tribute.
> 
> Thank you for reading.


End file.
